“For G-d And Country”

I think Christine Fair’s criticism of Nicholas Schmidle’s tick-tock on the Osama bin Laden raid makes some fair points about sourcing, but her objection to Schmidle reporting that the Navy SEAL who took down bin Laden whispered “for G-d and country” to himself before pulling the trigger isn’t really relevant:

Finally, whether or not the shooter actually said “For God and For Country” is another important question that affects the way in which the United States and is citizenry are seen across the world. The conflict with Bin Laden has been waged in lamentably civilizational terms focusing upon the clash of Islam and the presumably non-Islamic west. Since 9/11, countries with Muslim minorities have been gripped by Islamophobia with some states outlying headscarves and minarets and others seeking to restrict the erection of new mosques. Anti-immigration concerns in Europe are thinly disguised efforts to deter future Muslims from migrating. Success in the war of terrorism seems to be equated with success in turning back the spread of Islam. Several states in the United States have even introduced ludicrous and shameful bills to outlaw Sharia.

How would a proclamation that Bin Laden was killed “for God and for country” be read in a place like Pakistan where the war on terror has been largely seen as a war on Islam and Muslims? If this was in fact uttered, as an American, I am saddened that eliminating the world’s most notorious killer was done “for God” first and country second. If it wasn’t uttered, such a gratuitous detail hardly helps the United States make its case that it opposes terrorists not Muslims.

I find the remark somewhat disturbing as well, but what matters is whether or not it actually happened. If it did, and Schmidle reported it honestly, then there’s little reason not to include it in the story. A journalist can’t simply omit a detail like that because it might harm the U.S.’ image or reinforce the notion of a clash of civilizations between the West and Islam. In fact, the reasons that Fair offers for finding the remark objectionable are crucial to addressing the issue–if a non-trivial number of American servicemembers feel like they are part of a clash of civilizations, that’s a real problem, and it’s all the more important that it get reported. But if it actually happened, then it’s a problem for policymakers–not for Schmidle. The issue is whether it’s true or false, not whether or not it’s offensive.